Oral findings of Down syndrome children in Chennai city, India

Purpose: To assess the common oral findings and anomalies of Down syndrome (DS) children in Chennai city, India. Materials and Methods: Among the 130 DS children examined, 102 children aged 15 years and below were included in the study. There were 57 male children and 45 female children in the total study sample. A specially prepared case record was used to record the following findings in each child: a brief family and personal history; anomalies of soft tissues, teeth, occlusion, and temporomandibular joint. Age wise and sex wise comparisons of the findings were done. Results: About 97 children (95%) had the habit of regular tooth brushing. Everted lower lip (66%), retained primary teeth (31%), and midface deficiency (76%) were the most commonly seen soft tissue, dental, and occlusion anomalies, respectively. Conclusions: Midface deficiency was the most common orofacial anomaly seen in these children, followed by everted lower lip and retained primary teeth. Almost all the children had a regular tooth brushing habit. All the children examined were offered free dental treatment in our dental college.     

ECG signal conditioning by morphological filtering

Clinically obtained electrocardiographic (ECG) signals are often contaminated with different types of noise and baseline drifting commonly occurs. In order to facilitate automated ECG analysis, signal conditioning is undoubtedly a necessity. In this paper, a modified morphological filtering (MMF) technique is used for signal conditioning in order to accomplish baseline correction and noise suppression with minimum signal distortion. Compared with existing methods for ECG signal conditioning, MMF performs well in terms of the filtering characteristics, low signal distortion ratio, low computational burden as well as good noise suppression ratio and baseline correction ratio.     

Targeting Cell Signaling and Apoptotic Pathways by Dietary Agents: Role in the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and around the world. Most modern drug-targeted therapies, besides being enormously expensive, are associated with serious side effects and morbidity. Still, the search continues for an ideal treatment that has minimal side effects and is cost-effective. Indeed, the design and development of chemopreventive agents that act on specific and/or multiple molecular and cellular targets is gaining support as a rational approach to prevent and treat cancer. We present evidence on numerous dietary agents identified from fruits and vegetables that act on multiple signal transduction and apoptotic cascades in various tumor cells and animal models. Some of the most interesting and well documented are turmeric (curcumin), resveratrol, silymarin, EGCG, and genistein. This review will provide an insight on the cellular and molecular mechanism(s) by which dietary agents modulate multiple signaling and apoptotic pathways in tumor cells and elucidate the role of these agents in both prevention and treatment of cancer.     

Evolution of World Journal of Clinical Cases over the past 5 years

Analysis of the articles published in any journal is necessary to ascertain the performance of the journal in the academia. The author made a scientometric analysis of the articles published in the World Journal of Clinical Cases in the past 5 years and present the data to the readers.     

A major role for AT1b receptor in mouse mesenteric resistance vessels and its distribution in heart and neuroendocrine tissues

In mice, angiotensin (Ang) II type-1 (AT(1)) receptors exist as AT1a, and AT(1b) subtypes. In an effort to understand the role of AT(1b) in regulating vascular function, AT(1) subtype mRNA and its functional relevance in the mesenteric resistance vessels were determined using wildtype (WT) and AT(1a) knockout (AT(1a)(-/-) mice) mice. With RT-PCR followed by restriction-enzyme digestion, we found that AT(1b) accounted for almost all (98%) of AT(1) receptors in the mesenteric resistance vessels of WT mice. Also, the Ang II response in the vessels of AT(1a)(-/-) mice was comparable to that of WT mice, suggesting an important role for AT(1b) in regulating vasoreactivity. To further characterize AT(1b) receptor distribution, several other tissues were examined. Among them, AT(1b) is only predominantly expressed in hypothalamus, whereas AT(1a) exists exclusively or as a major subtype in heart, pituitary, adrenal glands and brainstem. These results further underscore a tissue-specific role for AT(1b) receptor in mice.     

Ribosome–SRP–FtsY cotranslational targeting complex in the closed state

The signal recognition particle (SRP)-dependent pathway is essential for correct targeting of proteins to the membrane and subsequent insertion in the membrane or secretion. In Escherichia coli, the SRP and its receptor FtsY bind to ribosome–nascent chain complexes with signal sequences and undergo a series of distinct conformational changes, which ensures accurate timing and fidelity of protein targeting. Initial recruitment of the SRP receptor FtsY to the SRP–RNC complex results in GTP-independent binding of the SRP–FtsY GTPases at the SRP RNA tetraloop. In the presence of GTP, a closed state is adopted by the SRP–FtsY complex. The cryo-EM structure of the closed state reveals an ordered SRP RNA and SRP M domain with a signal sequence-bound. Van der Waals interactions between the finger loop and ribosomal protein L24 lead to a constricted signal sequence-binding pocket possibly preventing premature release of the signal sequence. Conserved M-domain residues contact ribosomal RNA helices 24 and 59. The SRP–FtsY GTPases are detached from the RNA tetraloop and flexible, thus liberating the ribosomal exit site for binding of the translocation machinery.The Escherichia coli signal recognition particle (SRP) is a complex consisting of the universally conserved protein Ffh and 4.5S RNA, which adopts a hairpin structure (1). Ffh is composed of the N-terminal domain, the G domain that harbors GTPase activity, and the C-terminal methionine-rich M domain that interacts with 4.5S RNA (2, 3) and with the signal sequence (4, 5). The N and G domains form a compact structural and functional unit termed “the NG domain.” Targeting of ribosome-nascent chain complexes (RNC) containing a signal sequence depends on the interaction of the RNC–SRP complex with the SRP receptor FtsY, which is membrane associated (6–9). FtsY and Ffh interact via their homologous NG domains and form a composite GTPase active site (10, 11). Crystal structures of the M domain reveal a hydrophobic groove used to capture signal sequences (4, 5, 12).Protein targeting is driven by highly regulated conformational rearrangements of SRP and FtsY as well as GTP hydrolysis. SRP recognizes and tightly binds to RNCs displaying a signal sequence (cargo). Next, RNC-bound SRP efficiently recruits FtsY to form a nucleotide-independent, transient early state that rearranges to a GTP-stabilized closed state (13). Ultimately, in the activated state, handover of the RNC to the Sec translocon takes place, followed by GTP hydrolysis and disassembly of the SRP–FtsY complex (14–16). These distinct conformational transitions are regulated by the ribosome and translocon in the membrane, leading to a switch from cargo recognition by SRP to cargo release (17, 18).Cryo-EM structures of bacterial SRP-bound RNCs revealed a tight cargo-recognition complex (19, 20). In the SRP–FtsY early complex an overall detachment of SRP from the ribosome was observed (21). In this state, the G domain of FtsY contacts the conserved SRP RNA tetraloop, and Ffh and FtsY interact via their N domains (21) forming a pseudosymmetric V-shaped complex positioned above the ribosomal tunnel exit. The active sites of the GTPase domains are apart from each other, explaining why the early state is inactive in GTP hydrolysis (13, 21, 22).GTP is required for SRP and FtsY to rearrange into the closed state. FRET experiments indicate that, in this state, the Ffh–FtsY NG domains adopt a conformation that resembles the intimate heterodimeric architecture observed in crystal structures (10, 11, 13). The complete SRP was crystallized in complex with the FtsY NG domain in the closed/activated state showing the NG domains docked at the distal end of the RNA hairpin (23, 24). Single-molecule total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy directly demonstrated that the Ffh–FtsY NG domains need to relocate from the tetraloop to the RNA distal end to become activated for GTP hydrolysis and to progress further in the targeting reaction (24).Although the early, closed, and activated SRP–FtsY targeting complexes have been well-characterized biochemically, the generation of distinct, conformationally homogenous closed and activated ribosome–SRP–FtsY complexes for structural studies proved to be exceedingly difficult, because the ribosome stabilizes the early state (13). We overcame this challenge by developing a robust complex preparation strategy, and describe here the cryo-EM structure of the closed state of the RNC–SRP–FtsY complex at a resolution of 5.7 Å.     

Nature nominee quercetin's anti‐influenza combat strategy—Demonstrations and remonstrations

Nature's providences are rather the choicest remedies for human health and welfare. One such is quercetin, which is nature's nominee for cancer cure and recently demonstrated against influenza attack. Quercetin is highly recognized for its anticancer applications. This review emphasizes on yet another gift that this compound has to offer for mankind, which is none other than combating the deadly evasive influenza virus. The chemistry of this natural bioflavonoid and its derivatives and its modus operandi against influenza virus is consolidated into this review. The advancements and achievements made in the anti‐influenza clinical history are also documented. Further, the challenges facing the progress of this compound to emerge as a predominant anti‐influenza drug are discussed, and the future perspective for breaking its limitations through integration with nanoplatforms is envisioned.